Homethrive is a healthcare service company that reduces work, worry, and stress for unpaid family caregivers, their loved ones, and their employers. And the company’s family caregiving platform uniquely integrates a digital assistant for coaching, navigation, and resources with expert personal interaction and service coordination to help ease the difficult and stressful responsibility of supporting loved ones who are aging or have special needs. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Homethrive Chief Product Officer Karan Chawla to learn more about the company.
Karan Chawla’s Background
What is Chawla’s background? Chawla said:
“I started out in management consulting, which was a great way to get acquainted with the business world and make professional connections, but I soon realized that this was not the career path I wanted to pursue.”
“That’s when I switched to technology, joined Uber and found my passion for building impactful technology for people. At Uber, I was exposed to problem-solving technology and product-oriented work, and I knew it was my calling. I also knew I wanted to solve real-world problems that affect many people, including me.”
“I had been a caregiver for my father for a couple of years when I met the founders of Homethrive. I was already familiar with the challenges many caregivers face since it was an issue close to my family. That made the decision to join the company easy and incredibly meaningful.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Chawla explained:
“Homethrive is a high-touch family caregiving solution. It is a platform for people who care for their loved ones and manage numerous responsibilities, from figuring out prescriptions to getting the right medical equipment.”
“Members get 24/7 access to on-demand resources to help make caregiving more accessible and rewarding. They can also connect with Homethrive’s social workers for emotional support or assistance with complex situations.”
Evolution Of Homethrive’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Chawla noted:
“We introduced a number of new features recently that help our community of caregivers to reduce their day-to-day stress.”
“The first new feature is Care Guides. They help answer questions that many caregivers have about their daily responsibilities.”
“Another addition we made was Medication Tracking. From personal experience, I know that tracking a loved one’s medications and changing prescriptions, especially when there’s a group of caregivers, can be overwhelming. You need to be able to monitor and share this information quickly and easily. This year, for instance, my father was hospitalized, and I saw first-hand the value of quick access to this information when we had to share it with his doctors urgently.”
“The last feature I want to mention here is Smart Journal. This is pretty straightforward. It is a journaling tool. Why is it smart? We use AI to identify the topics where users need additional guidance or services based on what they share in the app.”
Customer Success Stories
After asking Chawla about customer success stories, he cited:
“We recently announced our partnership with two companies leading in their respective healthcare markets.”
“Caregiving is even more of a hot-button issue within the healthcare and medical community, as they are still dealing with the aftereffects of the pandemic. Healthcare professionals faced with caregiving duties at home especially need support to avoid emotional and physical burnout.”
“In November, Homethrive partnered with Vizient, a leading provider-driven healthcare performance improvement company. Thanks to the partnership, Vizient’s employees who are juggling caregiving responsibilities can get personalized support with anything from Medicare to finding financial resources.”
“We also unveiled our partnership with Lee Health, Florida’s largest public health system, in December. They have chosen Homethrive to provide more than 15,000 employees with caregiving benefits.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates Homethrive from its competition? Chawla affirmed:
“We see that solutions traditionally offered to employers and caregivers are either not scalable or very reliant on technology. Our secret is balance. While Homethrive does provide a tech platform for caregivers, we also have an outstanding team of professional care guides who are available and can guide our members through complex situations 24/7. So, it’s technology combined with human expertise and communication.”
“This integrated approach has shown excellent results. We have a few metrics that we use to measure success, and one of them is the rate of utilization. The fact that employees engage with the platform and come back to use it shows the importance and need for these benefits. We also see that companies that work with us improve their retention and productivity.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future goals? Chawla concluded:
“Our major goal is to continue to create broader awareness. 75% of employees are conducting some form of caregiving activities, which is a large portion of people. Most importantly, it causes so much stress and anxiety in addition to working a full-time job.”
“We are starting to see caregiving benefits mirroring what mental health went through 5+ years ago. Our goal is to ensure we continue on this trajectory and Homethrive continues to be at the forefront of helping solve this growing problem.”
